In this series, we explore common and not so common false friends between German and English. We’ll learn what they mean, how to properly translate them and we’ll explore WHY the words look the same but don’t mean the same.
Summary
"rent" and "die Rente" - both are related and both are about money. But they're not the same. Today, we'll find out why, and how to translate each of them.
Vocabulary
die Rente, Rentner, Waisenrente, Labradorente, die Miete, mieten, vermieten, Mieter, Untermieter
Summary
German bekommen and English to become look the samee but they don't mean the same at all. Today, we'll find out why and how surprisingly close they actually are.
Vocabulary
bekommen
Summary
A fun look at why fabric and die Fabrik are false friends and how to translate them. We'll also talk about der Stoff, and learn some word history.
Vocabulary
die Fabrik, der Stoff, Sauerstoff, Wasserstoff, Rohstoff, Ballaststoff
Summary
"arm" in English is a body part and a weapon. "Arm" in German is a body part and poor. Today, we'll find out all about these weird double meanings
Vocabulary
der Arm, umarmen, langärmlig, arm, ärmlich, die Armut, verarmen, die Waffe, bewaffnet
Summary
English "bald" is about no hair, German "bald" means "soon". What could possibly be the connection there? Or is there one at all? Today, we'll find out.
Vocabulary
bald, kahl, glatt, die Glatze
Summary
German 'spenden' and English 'to spend' are classic false friends. Today, we'll learn what 'spenden' means, and how to say 'to spend' in various context.
Vocabulary
spenden, die Spende, spendieren, die Speise, die Spesen, ausgeben, verbringen
Summary
The English "sensible" and the German "sensibel" look REALLY similar - but they don't mean the same thing. Today, we'll find out why and how to translate them.
Vocabulary
sensibel, vernünftig, empfindlich, Empfindlichkeit, merklich, fühlbar, spürbar
Summary
A fun look at the meaning of the German words "die Art" and "die Kunst" and why only the second one actually means art.
Vocabulary
die Art, die Tonart, die Tierart, artgerecht, artig, eigenartig, die Kunst, künstlich, der Künstler
Summary
We'll take a look at the false friends "craft" and "Kraft" and how they got so confusing. And we'll explore the family of "Kraft" a bit and learn cool new words.
Vocabulary
die Kraft, kräftig, die Stärke, die Schwerkraft, KFZ
Summary
'irritate' and 'irritieren' do NOT mean the same and mixing them up can actually be really awkward. Today, we'll find out what they each mean.
Summary
We'll talk about the pair 'eventuell - eventually' and the pair 'prägnant - pregnant' and see what happened and how to actually translate them.
Vocabulary
eventuell, prägnant, vielleicht, schwanger, die Schwangerschaft, die Prägnanz
